Year in Review: Biggest Political Events of 2022

January

12th January: Boris Johnson says he did, in fact, attend a Downing Street party, and offers his “heartfelt apologies”.
19th January: Christian Wakeford, a Conservative MP, crosses the House and joins the Labour Party.

3rd February: Paul Givan, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, resigns over the Northern Ireland protocol. Furthermore, the Southend West by-election occurs, in which the Conservatives win with 86% of the vote. The vote has an extremely low turnout of 24%.
8th February: Boris Johnson announces a cabinet reshuffle.
21st February: Russia officially recognises two breakaway Ukrainian regions, Luhansk and Donetsk, as independent states.
24th February: Russia invade Ukraine, just days after recognising the independence of two breakaway regions.

23rd March: Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, delivers his Spring statement, which includes the controversial increase to National Insurance, called the Health & Social Care levy. This is despite the Conservatives promising not to increase NI in their 2019 general election manifesto.
24th March: The Fixed Terms Parliament Act is repealed.
30th March: Jamie Wallis comes out as transgender, the first MP to ever do so.

24th April: The Elections Act 2022 receives royal assent, meaning that photo ID is now required to vote in UK elections, alongside replacing the Supplementary Vote at Police & Crime Commissioner elections with First Past the Post. In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron is re-elected.
30th April: Neil Parish, Conservative MP for Tiverton & Honiton, announces his resignation as an MP after admitting to watching pornography in the House of Commons.

5th May: Elections are held across England, Scotland & Northern Ireland. The Conservatives suffer widespread losses. In Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein make history by becoming the first nationalist to win the most seats at a Northern Ireland Assembly election.
14th May: 40 countries come together in Turin at the Eurovision Song Contest. Ukraine is announced as the winner, with the United Kingdom at second.
23rd May: Anthony Albanese, leader of the Labor Party, becomes Prime Minister of Australia.
25th May: the Sue Gray report is released. It includes details of widespread breaches of COVID-19 restrictions in Downing Street.
27th May: the Ministerial Code is updated, removing the need for ministers to resign if they breach the rules.

6th June: Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, announces a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson. MPs vote 60% for confidence in Johnson.
23rd June: Conservatives lose by-elections in Tiverton & Honiton and Wakefield to the Lib Dems and Labour respectively.
30th June: Conservative deputy chief whip Chris Pincher resigns, after allegations of an incident the previous evening.

3rd July: Work & Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey tells BBC News that Boris Johnson was not aware of any allegations against Chris Pincher when appointing him as deputy chief whip.
5th July: Boris Johnson admits he was aware of allegations against Chris Pincher when appointing him as deputy chief whip. In the evening, Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid resign from Johnson’s government.
6th July: over 60 ministers resign, and Johnson reshuffles his cabinet to ensure stability. Michelle Donelan becomes Education Secretary.
7th July: Michelle Donelan resigns as Education Secretary. Boris Johnson announces his resignation as Prime Minister.
12th July: nominations close for the Conservative Party leadership election, with the final election due to end on 5th September. 8 MPs are nominated as Conservative leadership candidates.

18th August: former SNP, now independent, MP Margaret Ferrier pleads guilty to breaking COVID-19 restrictions by taking a train while waiting for a COVID-19 test result, which was later positive.

5th September: Liz Truss is elected Conservative leader by party members, and becomes Prime Minister the next day. She stood on a manifesto of lowering taxes so people kept more of the money they earned.
8th September: HM Queen Elizabeth II dies. Charles III becomes King. Liz Truss announces a cap on typical energy bills of £2,500 per year for two years.
12th September: King Charles III addresses Parliament for the first time as King.
16th September: Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman, dies under suspicious circumstances, after being arrested for incorrectly wearing a hijab. Months of protest by Iranians follows.
23rd September: Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announces a ‘mini-budget’, in which he abolishes the cap on bankers’ bonuses, reduces the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%, and abolishes the 45% top rate of income tax.

7th October: after Ukraine is considered too dangerous a host, Liverpool is announced as the host city of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, after Sam Ryder (representing the UK) came second.
8th October: an explosion occurs on the Crimean Bridge, an important transport link for Russia to resupply troops in Ukraine.
14th October: Kwasi Kwarteng is sacked as Chancellor. Jeremy Hunt is appointed as his replacement.
19th October: Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigns as Home Secretary after a security breach. There is confusion at a Commons vote on fracking over whether it is a vote of confidence in the government. Allegations of physical force and expletive language are made. Wendy Morton, the Chief Whip, submits her resignation letter to Liz Truss, but Truss rejects her resignation.
20th October: Liz Truss resigns as Prime Minister, becoming the shortest-serving in the history of the United Kingdom.
22nd October: Giorgia Meloni becomes the new Italian Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the post.
24th October: Rishi Sunak becomes the new Conservative Party leader. He is appointed as Prime Minister the next day.
27th October: Elon Musk completes his takeover of Twitter.

1st November: Matt Hancock loses the Conservative whip after announcing he is joining TV show ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’
8th November: Gavin Williamson resigns from government after serious allegations of bullying.
9th November: for the first time ever, nurses in the NHS vote to take strike action.
10th November: as no Northern Ireland Executive forms, Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, announces a new election will occur in 2023.
17th November: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivers his Autumn Statement.
20th November: the controversial FIFA World Cup begins in Qatar.
23rd November: The UK Supreme Court rules that the Scottish government cannot hold another independence referendum with UK government approval.

1st December: Ian Blackford announces his resignation as SNP Westminster leader. He is replaced by Stephen Flynn on 6th December.
2nd December: Matt Hancock returns to Westminster after coming 3rd on ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’
6th December: after a run-off election in Georgia, the Democrats win power in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2022 mid-term elections.

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